Last night was my first night without kava in about 6 weeks (see Kava Dermopathy Pics thread). I've had a headache since I woke up today, and I rarely get headaches. This could be a coincidence. I tried sticking to my regular coffee dose this morning and it did nothing for the headache, so that wasn't the cause. An ibuprofen and caffeine combo has eliminated it for the most part, however I noticed I am a bit feverish as well. I would prefer this being a result of no kava, rather than the flu however.

I remember reading caffeine causes withdraw headaches because it blocks some of a certain chemical that cause blood flow in the brain.
When you drink it everyday it blocks it everyday so your body will make more of the chemical.
So when you quit it stops blocking it and you get too much blood flow.
It was something like that.

Maybe something similar is happening with kava. They really don't know that much about how it works. Even for caffeine they don't seem completely sure.

I've never had any headaches I've related to kava. I drank it almost everyday for a few weeks at one time.

Interesting, I get this as well when I run out, or take a break. The worst of it, for me is the ringing in the ears, though its all fairly mild. I'm 1000% sure its the result of no kava. I've even tested it several times on purpose just to make sure, before I went to the Dr. for something he wouldn't find.

Update: My second day without kava was headache free. So even if this is a side effect of withdrawal, it is a mild, short-lived one. I didn't make it three days. Gave in and made a nice strong batch of boroguru. It had a positive effect on my well being, and a negative effect on my receding dermopathy.

The number of people reporting headaches seems to indicate a correlation.

I've stopped abrubtly from using 1/4 cup nightly, to none for three weeks. Nothing happened. I've stopped a couple times before too.
I think you guys should try stopping kava after flu season ;) This is gonna be far fetched, but what if the kava is curing your headaches. When you stop they come back.

stevev wrote:I've stopped abrubtly from using 1/4 cup nightly, to none for three weeks. Nothing happened. I've stopped a couple times before too.
I think you guys should try stopping kava after flu season ;) This is gonna be far fetched, but what if the kava is curing your headaches. When you stop they come back.

That is an interesting idea stevev. The fact that I very rarely develop headaches is where my problem lies. However, I did continue kava consumption after a 2 day break for 3 days. Quit again for two nights and experienced no headaches. I am beginning to think it was a coincidence in my case.

I've gone about three, maybe 4 days without having a fresh bowl. I had a bowl of leftovers that did just about nothing, and ate about two packs of kava candy to no avail as well. This is the first time in about two months that I havnt drank at least 6 tablespoons of kava per night (please god let my stone come in the post today!) I havnt experienced any withdrawal symptoms, no headaches or anything like that, the only thing is that I really miss my nightly routine of making kava lol. I have noticed a pretty noticeable rise in my dermopathy once my consumption went down, though. It seems like for me, instead of it going away when I stop kava, it gets worse! Really weird.

i forget what i was drinking when i had headaches, but i know that Ive had some strains of ISA that gave me headaches when i was drinking them. For some reason nambawan gives me headaches, but everyone else likes it

mos3z wrote:i forget what i was drinking when i had headaches, but i know that Ive had some strains of ISA that gave me headaches when i was drinking them. For some reason nambawan gives me headaches, but everyone else likes it

I used to get headaches sometimes about an hour after drinking kava but that hasn't happened in awhile. Is there any chance it's dehydration?